Summerdale Junction posted:Dan , I believe that you are right that American Flyer O-Gauge three rail would have been able to give Lionel some decent competion in the post war era . You have to remember that Lionel only made it through the depression with the help of Disney and Mickey Mouse .Those one dollar hand cars sold well . W.O. Coleman and the gang from Halsted street in Chicago were not so lucky . In 1932 , a President's Special wide gauge set sold for $100 and a Mayflower set set you back a whopping $150.Not a lot of takers back then . The American Flyer name and factory was sold to A.C. Gilbert in 1937. And as they say , the rest is history . I think that they were on a par with Lionel in the Teens and Twenty's and had they survived , They may have been as innovated as Lionel was in the post war era.
I believe the whole Mickey Mouse saving lionel is a myth from what I have read. I don't think
Lionel made enough from Mickey mouse to buy a pack of gum after manufacturing costs etc.
I think it was the M10000 and forward looking trains like that that really got Lionel back on track.
